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University at Albany, State University of New York

Theses/Dissertations

2018

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The Effect Of The Zika Virus On Rna Stress Granule Components, Nina Williams Dec 2018

The Effect Of The Zika Virus On Rna Stress Granule Components, Nina Williams

Biological Sciences

In recent years, Zika virus (ZIKV) has taken over mainstream media. It captivated the world with the images of microcephaly babies born to infected mothers and the appearance of Guillain-Barré syndrome emerging from infected adults. ZIKV is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. This virus is composed of a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome that belongs to the Flaviviridae family. Our long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms in which the virus subverts the host organism’s translation machinery by modulation of RNA stress granules (SGs). Stress granules are RNA-protein complexes found in the cytoplasm that form when the cell is exposed to …

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Visual Search Array Structure And Satisfaction Of Search Errors: Evidence From Eye Movements, Leah Gloskey Dec 2018

Visual Search Array Structure And Satisfaction Of Search Errors: Evidence From Eye Movements, Leah Gloskey

Psychology

Multiple-target visual searches are susceptible to errors when the recognition of one target hinders the detection of another. This phenomenon is known as "satisfaction of search" (SOS; Tuddenham, 1962) or more recently "subsequent search misses" (SSM; Cain, et al. 2013). Although this phenomenon was first identified in radiology, SSM errors extend beyond the medical domain. Exploring SSM errors in proofreading, this study examines whether the discovery of one misspelled word interferes with the detection of a second misspelled word amongst other correctly spelled words. Manipulating the display structure of task, it is hypothesized that the pattern of SSM errors may …

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Rack1 Facilitates Efficient Translation Of Viral And Cellular Iress, Natasha Permaul Dec 2018

Rack1 Facilitates Efficient Translation Of Viral And Cellular Iress, Natasha Permaul

Anthropology

Ribosomes, the cellular machinery that translates mRNA sequences into protein sequences, are surprisingly heterogeneous molecules. More and more ribosomal proteins have been shown to facilitate translation of mRNA subsets. These mRNA subsets include mRNAs that can initiate translation using non-canonical pathways, for example using an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). IRESs are RNA structures that facilitate translation with fewer translation initiation factors than are required for canonical cap-dependent translation initiation. The ribosomal protein Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) has been previously shown to be required for translation of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) IRES, but not required for …

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Removing Prejudice From Online Job Applications, Ilene Rothman Dec 2018

Removing Prejudice From Online Job Applications, Ilene Rothman

Business/Business Administration

Currently, there are no laws limiting an employer from viewing a candidate’s social media presence. The United States Equal Opportunity Employment Commission prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and genetic information. If a candidate is active on professional social media websites such as the largest online professional network, LinkedIn, some of this information can easily be gathered by an employer. To stop discrimination in the hiring process, recommendations for a blind hiring process will be provided. This process will ensure that a candidate is initially judged solely based on the …

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Analysis Of The Police Response To Mass Shootings In The United States Between 1966 And 2016, Keily Linger Dec 2018

Analysis Of The Police Response To Mass Shootings In The United States Between 1966 And 2016, Keily Linger

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity

This study examines 186 mass shooting events for the protocol police followed upon arrival atthe scene. In 124 of these cases, the police arrived on scene after the shooter had stoppedshooting, either because the shooter committed suicide, fled the scene or was detained by peoplein the area who were not currently police officers. Of the 186, only 62 cases included policearriving on scene and following a response protocol, either engagement or perimeter. Thenumber of casualties varied for each incident and type of police response. These cases wereanalyzed to determine if one type of response protocol was more effective in decreasing …

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Novel Methods For The Crystallization Of Thin Film Silicon, Shane Mcmahon Dec 2018

Novel Methods For The Crystallization Of Thin Film Silicon, Shane Mcmahon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Underpinning much of the technological innovation over the past few decades in the fields of sensors, lighting, displays, and energy conversion has been thin-film electronics. While many of the surfaces in our environment have curvature, silicon wafers do not. Flexible electronics attempt to overcome this fundamental limitation in form factor. Flexible thin-film transistors (TFTs) can be fabricated over large areas to provide switching and driving elements for displays and other devices. While printable organic semiconductors have made significant advances over the past few years, they cannot match the performance capability, electrical quality, temperature compatibility, or stability of silicon. For this …

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Regional Specialization Of The Adult Meninges Supports Different Brain Areas And Alters With Age, Christina Ann Calabrese Dec 2018

Regional Specialization Of The Adult Meninges Supports Different Brain Areas And Alters With Age, Christina Ann Calabrese

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The meninges comprise three heterogeneous connective tissue coverings, referred to as the dura, arachnoid, and pia mater, which completely envelop the brain and spinal cord. Given the meninges’ vast coverage over the entire CNS and its unique development, I hypothesized that regional leptomeninges (arachnoid and pia mater layers combined) provide specialized support to different brain areas. During development, anterior meninges, overlying the frontal cortex, derive from neural crest cells that are ectodermal in origin. Posterior meninges, overlying the midbrain to the spinal cord, derive from a mesodermal lineage. This difference in lineage and location suggests potential functional differences between the …

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Isaac Wise And The Path To American Jewish Unity Through American Nationalism, Ryan Fox May 2018

Isaac Wise And The Path To American Jewish Unity Through American Nationalism, Ryan Fox

History Honors Program

When the founding fathers established the United States of America, they understood that the survival of the new nation was entirely dependent on future leaders who shared their core beliefs in basic democracy, freedom, and humanity. They envisioned their dreams and goals for the Union to be passed down to future generations by men who shared their passion for these enlightenment ideas. They likely did not envision these leaders to fit the profile of Jewish Rabbis from small orthodox Bohemian villages. However, it was a Jewish influence that indirectly shaped the country decades prior to the first Jews’ political involvement …

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When The World Seemed New: Ue Local 301 And The Decline Of The American Labor Movement, Jacob Houser May 2018

When The World Seemed New: Ue Local 301 And The Decline Of The American Labor Movement, Jacob Houser

History Honors Program

On February 19, 1954 Senator Joseph McCarthy made his return to Albany, New York to expunge any subversive elements within the defense industry, particularly at the Schenectady General Electric plant. McCarthy was willing to bring anyone down with him that he could. A man named Charles Rivers was called forth to testify on the first day of the hearings. Rivers did not know that he was being brought before Senator McCarthy as a suspected Communist, but McCarthy in turn did not know that Rivers did not even work for General Electric. Once he realized he had the wrong man, all …

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The Effects Of Intrahippocampal Estradiol Administration On Spatial Memory And Protein Expression In Rats Fed A High Fat Diet, Lauren M. Maitner May 2018

The Effects Of Intrahippocampal Estradiol Administration On Spatial Memory And Protein Expression In Rats Fed A High Fat Diet, Lauren M. Maitner

Biological Sciences

Estradiol acts throughout the body; one key target that expresses large numbers of estradiol receptors is the brain, and specifically the hippocampus. Estradiol can exhibit neuroprotective effects in the brain. However, the set of pathways through which this occurs is not well understood. In vitro work has shown that administration of estradiol to hippocampal neurons inactivates caspase 3, a protease involved in apoptosis and the cleavage of tau. Cleavage of tau results in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles. Together with formation of amyloid-beta plaques, this is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. We tested the hypothesis that administration of …

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Development Of A Rapid Small-Scale Purification Method For The Quantitation Of Heparin-Like Glycosaminoglycans From Cell Culture Media, Marina Danielle Infantado May 2018

Development Of A Rapid Small-Scale Purification Method For The Quantitation Of Heparin-Like Glycosaminoglycans From Cell Culture Media, Marina Danielle Infantado

Biological Sciences

Heparin is an anticoagulant medicinally used to inhibit blood clotting. It is commonly administered to patients requiring surgery or kidney dialysis. Presently, it is produced from animal tissues, but a recent contamination crisis pointed to the need for a safer source of the drug. Our project seeks to develop a rapid, inexpensive, high-throughput assay to quantitate the production of heparin and other glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) from cultured mammalian cells. In order to quantitate heparin from cell culture media, a purification method is needed to separate GAGs from interfering constituents in the media. We developed a purification protocol that absorbs Pluronic and …

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The Role Of Rck/P54 Enzymatic Activity During Hepatitis C Infection, Rachel E. Eager May 2018

The Role Of Rck/P54 Enzymatic Activity During Hepatitis C Infection, Rachel E. Eager

Biological Sciences

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected 30,500 people in the United States alone in 2014. As a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, the HCV genome facilitates translation and replication of the virus within the host cell. During infection, HCV subverts numerous host proteins to aid in viral production. One such protein is DDX6, a DEAD-box helicase that is associated with the decapping complex and microRNA Induced Silencing Complex (miRISC). Previous studies in our lab have shown that DDX6 is required for HCV expression. Specifically, DDX6 modulates the interaction of miR-122 with the HCV 5’ UTR and promotes stability and replication of the …

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Effects Of Zinc On Cognition, Anthony Piche May 2018

Effects Of Zinc On Cognition, Anthony Piche

Biological Sciences

Insulin resistance is the defining symptom of type 2 diabetes and a key risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Work from our lab and others has shown that insulin is a key component of brain pathways mediating cognition; specifically, mechanisms that transduce hippocampal memory processing. In the hippocampus, insulin regulates glucose metabolism through translocation of the glucose transporter GluT4 and modulates several other molecular cascades. Studies where insulin is studied as a cognitive modulator have generally used a formulation that contains zinc to stabilize insulin. However, zinc itself modulates molecular signaling pathways including AKT and GSK3β, which are both downstream of …

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One-Step Cellular Micro-Rna Detection With Programmable Dna Nanoswitches, Molly F. Macisaac May 2018

One-Step Cellular Micro-Rna Detection With Programmable Dna Nanoswitches, Molly F. Macisaac

Biological Sciences

MicroRNAs play important roles in gene regulation. Additionally, differential expression of specific microRNAs have been correlated with a wide range of diseases. Sensitive and selective detection of microRNAs is thus important for enabling their use as biomarkers, drugs, or drug targets. Current detection techniques such as northern blotting and quantitative real-time PCR require skilled personnel and expensive equipment to execute complex and time consuming assays. Here we develop and validate a one-step, non-enzymatic microRNA detection assay using DNA nanoswitches programmed to recognize and bind a specific microRNA. Binding induces a loop in the structure, allowing the target microRNA to be …

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Empathy And Negative Reciprocity As Predictors Of Third-Party Punishment, Olivia Johansen May 2018

Empathy And Negative Reciprocity As Predictors Of Third-Party Punishment, Olivia Johansen

Psychology

What motivates us to punish others? Individual differences dictate most of our behaviors, so our beliefs about fairness and retribution play into the type and degree of punishment we administer. Past work has highlighted the significant negative correlation between empathy and punishment, but a potentially stronger predictor of punishment behavior exists. This study pits empathic concern against negative norms about reciprocity to see which is a better predictor of punishment behavior in an economic goods game. We predicted that the negative reciprocity would be a better predictor of punishment than empathy, but ultimately found that empathy prevailed as the stronger …

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Effects Of Stereotype Threat On Black And White Individuals’ Verbal Responses In Police Encounters, Samantha N. Strine May 2018

Effects Of Stereotype Threat On Black And White Individuals’ Verbal Responses In Police Encounters, Samantha N. Strine

Psychology

I examined whether Black and White individuals have different verbal behaviors in police encounters and, if so, whether stereotype threat explains these differences. This question is important because police officers use certain verbal behaviors as evidence of deception. Thus, unconscious behaviors arising from concern about being stereotyped as a criminal could cause Black men to be perceived by police as suspicious and, in turn, contribute to discrepancies in police treatment of Black versus White men. In this study, Black and White men interacted with a White security officer in a staged encounter that varied in stereotype relevance (low or high). …

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Revisiting Wealth Effects And Merger Premium Determinants In The U.S. Financial Services Industry, Paul Vita May 2018

Revisiting Wealth Effects And Merger Premium Determinants In The U.S. Financial Services Industry, Paul Vita

Financial Analyst

The U.S. financial services industry’s gains are generally soaring these days in light of impending deregulation and lower taxes for their clients as well as for themselves, but have they really emerged from the long shadow cast by the global financial crisis? This paper attempts to examine this issue focusing on two aspects of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. financial services industry: the wealth effects and the merger premiums. Based on a sample of over 2,500 mergers and acquisitions deals completed during the period 2004 through 2016 and using the event study methodology, this study finds that target shareholders …

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The Impact Of Labor Rights On Equity Returns: A Cross-Country Analysis, Robin Lieb May 2018

The Impact Of Labor Rights On Equity Returns: A Cross-Country Analysis, Robin Lieb

Financial Analyst

There is ample evidence that financial market development leads to economic growth. If improving labor rights can be shown to positively influence equity markets, then that, in turn, will lead to economic growth. The finance literature has examined the impact of a broader metric, namely, the Economic Freedom Index, on equity returns worldwide and the evidence is mixed. This study focuses on one dimension of economic freedom: labor rights. Specifically, the study analyzes the impact of labor rights on national equity market indexes, using the Labor Rights Index developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the …

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Relation Between Inward Fdi Flows And Stock Market Development: Evidence From Emerging Economies, Luis Ramirez May 2018

Relation Between Inward Fdi Flows And Stock Market Development: Evidence From Emerging Economies, Luis Ramirez

Financial Analyst

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows have grown rapidly in size and importance in recent decades. They are an important source of capital in emerging markets and make up a significant proportion of GDP in many countries around the world. The international investment literature provides an extensive list of the impact of such capital flows, ranging from an increase in technological spillovers to a reduction in the market capitalization of the destination country’s stock market. This paper looks at one aspect of this broader research question. It examines the impact of FDI inflows on the size and liquidity of 14 developing …

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Energetics Among Collegiate Cross-Country Runners, Kelsey M. Briddell May 2018

Energetics Among Collegiate Cross-Country Runners, Kelsey M. Briddell

Anthropology

The purpose of this study is to determine the energy expenditure of collegiate long distance runners in practice sessions and determine how energetics differ between six male and six female runners. Previous research has looked at aerobic capacity, injury risk, and dietary adequacy. Currently, there is little research on energetics (calories expended during a given running period) throughout a season. Energy expenditure was measured during nine practice sessions by using heart rate monitors. From this data we calculated mean submaximal heart rate (SHR) and used the Flex-Heart Rate method to estimate total energy expenditure (TEE) of the runners. We compared …

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Determining Biological Sex Via An Individual Marker, Eden Alin May 2018

Determining Biological Sex Via An Individual Marker, Eden Alin

Anthropology

For decades, fingerprints have been a key tool in forensic analysis for the purpose of identifying criminals. However, when deposited at a crime scene, there is often a small chance that the fingerprint will match one in the FBI’s database of millions of files called, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or AFIS. Beyond their unique image, fingerprints contain and may unveil far more information about an individual. In this study, a chemical assay, the Sakaguchi test, was further developed for the analysis of a single amino acid, arginine, found within fingerprint sweat. Although arginine has significantly low concentration levels, the …

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Rapid Evolution Of Sperm Chromatin Remodeling Proteins In Primates, Hanna Catherine Corliss May 2018

Rapid Evolution Of Sperm Chromatin Remodeling Proteins In Primates, Hanna Catherine Corliss

Anthropology

Spermatogenesis requires both the remodeling and condensation of chromatin, a process facilitated by the sequential replacement of histones with sperm-specific DNA binding proteins. First, the transition nuclear proteins 1 and 2 (TNP1, TNP2) act to replace the sperm-specific histones, then they are themselves replaced by protamine 1 (PRM1) and, in some species, protamine 2 (PRM2). It has been theorized that changes to these chromatin-remodeling proteins may affect an organism’s sperm formation, and thus reproductive success. While studies have found that PRM1 evolves rapidly, with evidence of positive selection on the human lineage, and that PRM2 has also evolved rapidly in …

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Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton May 2018

Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton

Chemistry

The preparation and characterization of β-sheet forming polypeptides for use in light harvesting applications is described. The Higashiya genetic cassette strategy (HGCS) was employed in order to make DNA libraries of repetitive DNA sequences. These DNA libraries contained gene cassettes coding for proteins designed to fold into the desired secondary motif. The conditions required for peptide expression, folding and formation of micron length fibrils was determined for the purpose of photophysical characterization, such as fluorescence lifetimes and acceptor dye quantum yields. Of special interest was the investigation of an “antenna effect” under FRET illumination, the intensity of acceptor dye emission …

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Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon May 2018

Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon

Chemistry

The ability to identify condom derived trace evidence is gaining importance because of the increasing frequency with which perpetrators of sexual assault use condoms in order to avoid leaving behind incriminating DNA evidence that might link them to the crime. Although DNA remains the gold standard for sexual assault evidence, other forms of trace evidence are needed in its absence. When condoms are used, the lubricants associated with them are the trace evidence. For the lubricant residue to be useful in a forensics context, a database of chemical signatures of lubricants against which acquired evidence can be screened is required, …

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Differences Between High Shear / Low Cape Environments In The Northeast Us Favoring Straight-Line Damaging Winds Versus Tornadoes, Michael E. Main, Ross A. Lazear, Lance F. Bosart May 2018

Differences Between High Shear / Low Cape Environments In The Northeast Us Favoring Straight-Line Damaging Winds Versus Tornadoes, Michael E. Main, Ross A. Lazear, Lance F. Bosart

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

High shear / low CAPE (HSLC) environments are common in the Northeast US and can occur at any time of year. Severe weather in HSLC environments is notoriously hard to predict, often catching both forecasters and the general public off-guard. The goal of this project is to help forecasters to identify HSLC environments favorable for severe weather in the Northeast US, and to discriminate between HSLC environments that are supportive of tornadoes versus those that favor straight-line damaging winds (SDW). A 10-year HSLC severe weather environmental climatology was created for the Northeast US (New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania). …

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Understanding Microphysical Processes Occurring In Lake-Effect Snowbands Using Quasi-Vertical Profiles Of Wsr-88d Parameters, Marquette Rocque May 2018

Understanding Microphysical Processes Occurring In Lake-Effect Snowbands Using Quasi-Vertical Profiles Of Wsr-88d Parameters, Marquette Rocque

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

Knowing the composition and microphysical processes that occur in lake-effect precipitation systems is important in making sure models capture these processes accurately, and could aid forecasters in predicting snow totals and snow water equivalents. Many studies have shown that processes such as riming and dendritic growth can be seen in dual-polarization radar data through parameters such as equivalent radar reflectivity factor, differential reflectivity (ZDR), correlation coefficient, and differential phase. This research examines WSR-88D data from the KTYX (Montague, NY) radar located on the Tug Hill Plateau for several long-lake-axis-parallel lake-effect systems from the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign …

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Assessing Effective Rhetoric On Twitter In Relation To Forecast Uncertainty In Hurricane Tracks, Erin K. Lynch May 2018

Assessing Effective Rhetoric On Twitter In Relation To Forecast Uncertainty In Hurricane Tracks, Erin K. Lynch

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

A forecast is only as good as the way it is communicated. As the National Weather Service (NWS) transitions to an Impact-Based Communication style, the new public forecasts discuss how to effectively prepare and protect oneself from harm in the face of severe and significant weather. After severe events, meteorologists need to take the time to analyze the language and style of the rhetoric to assess how effective it was at getting people in harm’s way to take protective actions. It is even more important to understand how information was communicated when there is large uncertainty in the forecast. Uncertainty …

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Alzheimer’S: The Right To Nothing?, Heather Marie Forster May 2018

Alzheimer’S: The Right To Nothing?, Heather Marie Forster

Business/Business Administration

The purpose of this thesis is to shine light on the inequalities in the types of options Alzheimer’s patients are afforded and the different decisions they can or cannot make in comparison to other terminal patients. The main argument of this thesis is to include Alzheimer’s patients in current Right-to-Die laws by allowing them to consent to this choice of action before they are diagnosed, or in the early stages while they still have the competence to do so. Another aspect of this thesis is to increase the general public’s knowledge about Alzheimer’s and other dementias in order to generate …

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The Implementation Of A Cybersecurity Testbed For Education And Research, Elisabeth Dubois May 2018

The Implementation Of A Cybersecurity Testbed For Education And Research, Elisabeth Dubois

Business/Business Administration

The Cyber Innovation Lab brings with it the understanding and collection of the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks that one’s IT resources present. Due to the increasing complexity and degree of cyber threats, innovation regarding current attack vectors and defense mechanisms are needed. The lack of realistic threat landscapes and the need for accurate security analysis and defense strategies prompted the implementation of a cyber physical system for defensive research. The project depicts the processes to establish the testbed, the methodology used in classifying the architecture, threat and attack analysis, as well as preliminary results. The paper presents the testbed architecture …

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Gender In Politics: A Comparative Study Of Female Representation In The New York State Senate, Kaylynn Enright May 2018

Gender In Politics: A Comparative Study Of Female Representation In The New York State Senate, Kaylynn Enright

Public Administration & Policy

This paper utilizes data obtained from the New York State Senate spanning five elections between 2008 and 2016 to determine if gender impacts election outcomes. More specifically, I attempt to understand if the New York State Senate matches the common belief in the literature that women tend to fare less well than men in elections, and female Democrats have greater success than female Republicans in winning elections. By focusing on the New York State Senate, I seek to uncover whether the idiosyncrasies of New York State politics are reflected in any distinctions from the prominent conclusions made in the literature …

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